A love before time
by Cailinn
Summary: Galadriel talks to Celeborn about her fears concerning the Fellowship, and herself. Like this she learns something about her heart...more interesting, than it sounds now *g*. Please r/r!


Author's notes: Well, I guess this one is easier to understand if you know the whole story of Galadriel and Celeborn - I hope it's not too weird. The development during the story assumes that the relationship between the two of them 'by now' mostly consists of trust and maybe even grew somehow - a little - distant.  
  
What can I say? I once read their story, and I like the two.However, I wrote this around 4 a.m., so be kind.Please r/r!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Any names and the persons' stories belong to Tolkien, not to me.  
  
  
  
A love before time  
  
The Lady Galadriel arose from her seat at the side of Lord Celeborn and slowly walked to the edge of their flet.  
  
She stood gazing across the trees and meadows of Lothlórien onto which silver moonlight shone.  
  
Above the branches of the old mallorn trees swayed in the breeze, whispering with the same young voices like ages ago.  
  
Galadriel turned away and, glancing at Celeborn, who still sat with other Elfes that were talking in low voices, she walked to the staircase which led further upwards along the mallorn's trunk, to a smaller flet.  
  
The Lady found the flet empty, since in the heart of Lothlórien no watch was necessary.  
  
Galadriel stepped to the balustrade and lay her hands onto the smooth grey wood. From this place she could overview all of her country, and the land which lay beyond its boarders: the Anduin, shimmering silver in between the trees, and the slowly dropping plains, up to where Dol Guldur arose.  
  
The Lady felt a silent swift upon her face, and when it died away she heard Lord Celeborn's voice.  
  
"Galadriel."  
  
The Lady lifted her head and slowly turned to the side, but she did not look at Celeborn.  
  
"What induces thee to walk away from the song thee do love, my lady?"  
  
Galadriel gazed at the shining river Anduin beyond the woods of her land again, and only after a long while did she reply: "A lot, these days, Lord. I fear for those in whose hands our destiny was laid.  
  
For barely any amongst them has yet discovered his own fears that dwell inside the heart."  
  
"Thee saw what lays written, and still unspoken, in their souls. Was it there that thee found what made thee feel insecure?"  
  
"None of them knows." the Lady said in a low voice, rather speaking to herself. "I fear they may fail. They may only go wrong the least, and all is lost.  
  
Loyalty may not be the force to show them what is true and wise in the end. Other longings may overcome the ties of friendship and pride which did not yet desert them until now."  
  
"Thee is thinking of Boromir." Celeborn said. "He is weak. Maybe he brought peril for the fellowship."  
  
The Lady nodded, barely visible. "His wish, which has not fully grown, awakens inside his heart, out of good and noble thoughts, but it became to strong for him to distinguish between the chance to save his people and the impossibility to chose the soft option.  
  
And the Halflings. However they may guide Frodo, the Ringbearer, however confident they may turn their faces towards the future - it is despair they never experienced. At it in the end may force them to their knees.  
  
For Frodo I fear that he may sacrifice himself for helplessness at last."  
  
Galadriel's voice ceased as a sigh seemed to escape from the stars above, making a the tops of the silver mallorn trees rustle.  
  
The Lady's white hands tightened around the balustrade and she lowered her head.  
  
Celeborn kept standing still, his eyes resting upon Galadriel. After a while he spoke again: "It is not them that worry thee the most, my lady."  
  
Galadriel's eyes closed. "Indeed, no." she responded. "My heart's core fears for Aragorn."  
  
"Why, Lady of the Galadhrim? He is strong and will lead the fellowship well."  
  
"He will, I do not doubt. It is not his failure I fear, it is his own fear to fail. However noble his descent may be, always will his heart remain that of a mortal human. It was too many times that he had to learn about the weakness of his people. If no hope is to dawn anymore, if all despair, then he may as well.  
  
Unpredictable the mortals seem to me."  
  
A long silence gathered around them then, and it was only when a gentle wind began to blow again, that silent rustling of leaves in the tree-tops broke it.  
  
And only then did Galadriel open her eyes again, and she lifted her head to glance up into the sky. It seemed to her that a cold light was shining from their stars these days.  
  
All at once a late bloom of a mallorn lost its hold somewhere above and it quietly fell down, glinting golden.  
  
The Lady of Lórien held out her hand and the bloom fell onto her palm without a sound, light as a feather and beautiful, as if made of pure gold.  
  
An invisible smile lay on the Lady's lips as she touched the fragile bloom, its bright colour reflecting in the smooth silver of Nenya - whispers of distant memories.  
  
It was to Galadriel as if she held a portrayal of the Two Trees in her hands, only shining a weak light now, far away from their origin.  
  
She strongly felt the longing she had come to know over years in Middle Earth. A longing Nenya had worsened and relieved.  
  
Then the Lady turned her hand, and the bloom again floated downwards, doomed to die.  
  
"Eregion." Galadriel whispered. "I recall the havens of Alqualonde, and the words that were spoken when they cast a spell upon us.  
  
I recall my confidence, and also my rage. My heart mourns for my strength that is leaving me.  
  
Lord, we lived in Middle Earth for long. I believe I remember each day. Many were close to us who aren't anymore, passed or sailed to the West.  
  
I recall a world we chose, and young stars above the mists. Doríath, my Lord, Eregion and the first days of Imladris.  
  
My heart finds it hard to realise I don't see this world any longer, that it changed."  
  
At this Celeborn slowly stepped closer. "What do thee fear, my lady?"  
  
For a long time Galadriel remained silent. It was long since that memories had come to her so clearly and painfully.  
  
"Time. Never did I believe that once I would feel how it passes. And as I do I also fear coincidence."  
  
Her hands slid down from the balustrade and clenched. "Things may happen that I can't predict. And how could they deny me, that I was born in the starlit land, my return!"  
  
The Lord took another step closer and lay his hands onto Galadriel's shoulders. She slightly tensed, but did not move away.  
  
Celeborn quietly said: "Coincidence is a peril for all, my lady but time only is for mortals. What is time to those who might see a decade pass like a day?"  
  
"Thy words may be wise, but they do not reassure my heart. Unknown this fear seems to me, that lay deep within, and was dragged upwards. By what? -Time."  
  
Celeborn did not reply at once. In his soul also, memories were written down so deep, they could never fade away.  
  
Memories of a life that had witnessed all mortal ages from the very beginning. And Galadriel's life in Valinor always had cast a shadow over her love of Middle Earth, even if she had not realised this.  
  
The Lord then gently put his arms around Galadriel and cautiously pulled her closer. Finally the Lady leaned in to his embrace, tired at once.  
  
"See, my lady, this world has changed." Celeborn said. "And you were one of those who changed it. Alqualonde and Feanor are past, as well as Eregion and Gil-Galad are. And Valinor is so long since that it appears to you as if they were caught in a distant dream. There was a lot you fought for.  
  
And however long eternity may be, even for you there has been a past since the moment you were born underneath a sky full of stars that shone closer and warmer than those we see now. -A past which told you that, even for you, one of the Immortal, time passes.  
  
And however hopelessly a road seemed to go ever on, climbing a mountain where at the top there would be darkness awaiting you in the end, never would you be discouraged.  
  
Many things that once upon a time had seemed hopeless, and maybe even to you - endless, now have passed and became memory. Noble people, kings and gods you used to know now have become phantoms in the minds of many that live now, or have already passed again. Then they were ghosts, my lady, then they were legends. Now many forget.  
  
Often did you find a way to save what you fought for, and to mend what others broke. The three Rings of the Elfes are myths, and you still remember they day they were given to you. Lúthien is a tale parents tell their children, and you used to talk to her mother and walk though the gardens of Doríath with her. And so the story goes ever and ever on, until now.  
  
Far away, beyond the end of the world, those you long to see dwell, and the strength you had to reject the permission to meet them in the West, has deserted your heart. And sometimes you wish you had accepted Their offer, even though there are still ties that hold you in Middle Earth. What scares you is that now you see no open road to the West.  
  
But, my Lady Galadriel, there is nothing to fear. What you believe not to know is what always was a part of your soul: restlessness.  
  
Many things have passed, and there is a beginning at which you stand now. The War of the Ring has not yet begun. You have witnessed times like this before, and every time you fought. Now you are more helpless then anytime before, because the power of the Three fades and there are not many bastions of our race left to face darkness that may come, and diminish time that passed brought for the immortal ever since the day the sun first rose.  
  
You see changes. Times like this brought wisdom and success to you, you often won more then you could have lost.  
  
And now, is it another beginning you desire?  
  
Once again: so many questions open - and all at once, everything to lose."  
  
Celeborn squeezed her softly. "You are tired. Nothing to be afraid of, my Lady Galadriel of the Galadhrim."  
  
Galadriel remained silent. Through the years she almost would have forgotten how wise her husband really was. He could not read what was written in others' hearts like she could, but in the only heart that had been closed to her he could read: her own.  
  
And although she already knew the words he had spoken, this heart had not yet understood their meaning. But still, now her fear seemed easier to bear, as if it slept.  
  
Galadriel closed her eyes again then and leaned her head against Celeborn's.  
  
It was long since that she last had remembered that there was a place where even she, Lady Galadriel of Lothlórien, felt safe. Trust had guided her way for long, and she somehow had lost the awareness that there was more. But now she again knew that there also where times when she did not have to be the unreachable, wise Lady.  
  
Yes, it was long since that he had last held her, beneath bright stars from which there began to blow the cold winter breeze.  
  
  
  
- If you don't like too romantic (even overdone?) ends - stop here *g*. I like this end best.-  
  
  
  
Galadriel lifted her head again and turned round to face Celeborn.  
  
She rose her hand to caress his cheek, and she almost felt how she forgot all that had trouble her as she looked into his clear grey eyes.  
  
It was really long ago; but now Galadriel knew that whatever she had done or reached, she would not have without Celeborn by her side, even if they sometimes had been apart.  
  
It had been both of them who had helped to change, and tried to improve, a world they maybe would one day leave.  
  
A world where - not these days - but once, everyone had known 'Galadriel'. And this was one of her names, the one she had chosen. The once Celeborn had given her.  
  
It had taken time, but Lady Galadriel of the Galadhrim had realised what Lord Celeborn meant to her.  
  
She smiled and gently lay both hands onto his cheeks when he kissed her.  
  
-Thanks a lot for reading!!! Please review!- 


End file.
